Department for Transport

General Aviation in the UK

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: My Honourable Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Transport (Robert Courts) has made the following Ministerial Statement:General Aviation (GA) is often referred to as the ‘grassroots’ of aviation and is the bedrock to our successful and world-leading aviation sector.It’s worth nearly £4billion to the UK economy, supporting nearly 40,000 jobs. The hundreds of aerodromes up and down the country form an important part of the nation’s transport infrastructure.General Aviation provides the entry point for careers in aviation and is fundamental to inspiring the next generation of aviation professionals. It supports vital services from law enforcement to life-saving airborne medical and search and rescue teams, and provides future pilots, engineers and other highly skilled professionals a first glimpse of a potential career in aviation.Therefore, it is only right that the Government’s vision is for the UK to be the best place in the world for General Aviation as a flourishing, wealth generating and job-producing sector of the economy. Our ambitions remain high and we have set out our priorities and how we can achieve these in the Government’s GA Roadmap which I am pleased to announce. The Roadmap sets out our vision and strategic priorities for the sector, alongside our ambitious programme of work that will help us to deliver this. We will work alongside the CAA and our GA stakeholders to achieve these ambitions.The GA Roadmap is available online at:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/979856/general-aviation-roadmap-spring-2021.pdfI also wish to set out the Government’s view that it is clear from the success of our aviation sector there is a national need to protect and enhance our strategic network of GA airfields – to ensure they continue to prosper and drive the economic growth this country needs and to support levelling up right across the country.Airfields offer potential for highly skilled, dynamic and innovative businesses to grow and flourish – for manufacturing and maintenance of aircraft, aviation services, and for research and innovation.At the heart of these efforts, we will work with airfields to strengthen their economic and strategic value both locally, regionally and nationally by supporting their development, and promoting mixed-use where there are benefits from offering their unique infrastructure to the wider community including for business, education, cultural and recreational activities. There are already several airfields within the UK which share their infrastructure with a wide range of industries, as well as providing vital services to other government services. These airfields and many more are not just important to their local economies, but also critical to the success of the aviation sector.General Aviation will also play a crucial part in our Government’s focus on innovation and decarbonisation. Trialling, testing and rolling out the next generation of zero emission technologies within General Aviation will support their development and pave the way for their wider adoption in larger commercial-scale operations – supporting decarbonisation of the wider sector and economy. This will help us reach our net zero target by 2050.More widely, many aerodromes have been affiliated with operations during World Wars I and II and have since hosted heritage assets through the form of museums or have become designated historical sites. It is important these sites which are so important to our heritage are able to thrive and grow to be enjoyed and appreciated by generations to come.Our aviation heritage is rich, deep and rightly a source of great national pride. Looking forward, the Government’s vision is for the UK to be the best place in the world for General Aviation as a flourishing, wealth generating and job-producing sector of the economy.

Department for Education

School Condition Funding

Baroness Berridge: My Right Honourable Friend, The Minister of State for School Standards (Nick Gibb), has made the following statement:Today, I am confirming £1.8 billion of capital funding allocations for financial year 2021/22 to maintain and improve the condition of the school estate in England, as announced at the Spending Review.This funding is provided to ensure schools have well maintained facilities to provide students with safe environments that support high-quality education. This funding represents an increase of over 20 per cent on last year’s annual allocations and supports the Government’s priority of ensuring that every child has the opportunity of a place at a good school, whatever their background.For the financial year 2021/22, this funding includes:£1.1 billion in School Condition Allocations for local authorities, large multi-academy trusts, academy sponsors, and dioceses, and other large voluntary aided school groups, to invest in maintaining and improving the condition of their schools.£0.5 billion available through the Condition Improvement Fund programme for essential maintenance projects at small and stand-alone academy trusts, voluntary aided schools and sixth-form colleges.£0.2 billion of Devolved Formula Capital allocated directly for schools to spend on capital projects to meet their own priorities.Figures have been rounded to one decimal place. Full details of the allocations including the funding methodology for financial year 2021/22 have been published on the Department for Education section on the GOV.UK website.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Post Office Court of Appeal Judgement

Lord Callanan: My Honourable friend the Minister for London and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets) (Paul Scully) has today made the following statement:This House is well aware of the issues with the Post Office Horizon IT System and the hugely negative impact it has had on the lives of affected postmasters. The Government welcomes the Court of Appeal’s decision last Friday, 23 April, to quash the convictions of 39 postmasters. This is in addition to six convictions quashed by the Crown Court in December 2020.The Court’s decision is also another important step towards bringing resolution for these postmasters. The impact this ordeal has had on affected postmasters, their lives and livelihoods cannot be overstated. The Government will come back with a fuller oral statement tomorrow, 27 April, to update the House in more detail on these cases, owing to the scale of the miscarriage of justice we have seen here.

Cabinet Office

Written Ministerial Statement on GOV.UK Verify and the single sign-on and digital identity assurance pilot

Lord Agnew of Oulton: My Hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Secretary (Julia Lopez MP), has today made the following written statement:I would like to update the House on the GOV.UK Verify programme and the development of a new cross-Government single sign-on and digital identity assurance pilot. This update follows the Written Ministerial Statement in April 2020 made by my colleague the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP.Building on our experiences of Verify, and as we announced in last year's Spending Review, the Government Digital Service is collaborating with other departments to develop the first phase of a new system that will make it easier for people to access Government services online. This will enable people to find and access Government services more quickly, allow citizens to prove their identity only once – without needing to re-enter information multiple times - and protect people’s privacy throughout.People rightly expect from the Government a personalised, seamless and intuitive online service of the kind they get from their favourite online retailers. This pilot is an important step in that direction. Work is well underway and we have started the co-design with services and departments across Government.While this new system is being developed, many users and connected Government services continue to rely on GOV.UK Verify, as has been the case during the pandemic. The Government has therefore decided to extend the current Verify service, enabling new users to sign up until April 2022 and existing users to sign in until April 2023. During this time the Government will continue to update the House on the progress of our pilot.